Wrench.



A. BURGER.

- WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17, 1909 v 999,361, Patented Aug. 1,1911.

'r are.

WRENCH.

Application filed November 17, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM A. BURGER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pierre, county of Hughes, and State of South Dakota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in lVrenches, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to wrenches.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a wrench ofthe sliding jaw, claw lever type of novel construction, provided withnovel means for locking the claw lever in any position desired.

The invention may be carried out in clifferent ways, a preferredconstruction embodying a fixed jaw and shank, a sliding jaw having arack, a claw lever pivoted to the shank and engaging the rack aforesaid,anda locking device interposed between the handle and the shankconsisting of teeth and a dog or latch, as more particularly shown inthe accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view; Fig.2, a side elevation, partly broken away and partly in section; and Fig.3, detached detail views of the jaws and the shank and Fig. 4:, aperspective detail of the locking dog.

The fixed jaw 1 has a preferably integral shank section 2 which isflanked by flanges 3 which provide a channel or guide & for the slidingThe other shank section 5 is provided with a channel or guide 6 and witharms 7 which straddle the end of the shank section 2, abut the ends ofthe flanges 3, and are secured to the shank section 2 by a suitablerivet or other fastening 8 passing through the holes in the said parts.The rear end of the shank section 5 is provided with teeth 9 and 10,arranged to correspond on the rear edges of the side walls thereof.

The sliding jaw 11 is provided with a rack 12 on its inner edge, theshoulders 13 of the jaw 11, sliding upon the tops of the flanges 3 andthe said rack 12 sliding between the said fianges. The formation of theshank 1 1 of the sliding jaw is the same as guide 6, in which it slides.This construction prevents any turning or twisting of the sliding jaw.

Pivoted on a suitable pin or screw 15 is the handle 16, the pivoted partof the handle lying in between the sides of the shank Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911. Serial No. 528,560.

sect-ion 5 and being provided with a claw 16 which is engageable withthe rack 12 when the handle is in line with the shank sections but whenthe handle is swung downwardly the claw disengages from the shank andthe sliding jaw can then be quickly shifted to engage the nut or otherarticle located between it and the fixed jaw 1 and thereafter the handlemay be raised to reengage the claw with the rack. Continued upwardpressure on the handle will all the more tighter force the sliding lawinto engagement with the object being gripped but in order that thehandle may be securely locked so that the wrench may be operated in bothdirect-ions at any time without any disengagement of the claw from theshank or any retraction of the sliding jaw, I have provided the teeth 9and 10 and the locking dog, shown more particularly in Fig. 4.

The locking dog is shown in duplex form, but a single dog and a singlerow of teeth would suffice. Indeed, the dog and the teeth could bereversed in arrangement from that shown and other looking devices couldeven be substituted, all within the scope of my invention. In thepresent instance, however, the dog is provided with twin members 18having heads 19 to engage the teeth 9 and 10, the parts being connectedby a cross-piece 20 through which is threaded a clamping screw 21. Thedog straddles a reduced part 22 on the handle and is pivoted thereto bya pin 23. Leaf-springs 24:, secured either to the dog or to the handle,are interposed between the dog and the shoulders 25 on the handle andnormally cause engagement of the heads 19 with the teeth 9 and 10.

In rocking the handle upwardly, the jaw 11 more tightly binds the objectgripped, the greater the pressure that is applied to the handle and inmany instances the use of the locking dog is not required, in whichevent the set screw 21 is used to bind the dog, in retracted position,to the handle, but when said dog is used, the thumb-screw 21 is looseand the springs 24: throw the heads 19 into engagement with the teeth 9and 10, the heads engaging the successive teeth as the handle istightened and the object gripped by the jaws, said heads preventing anyrelease of the tightened engagement of the claw and rack. To release thejaws from the object, the dog is pressed back and the handle then throwndown. c

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

In a wrench, the combination with a shank having a jaw, of a movablejaw, a handle jointed to the shank and having means engaging the movablejaw and latching means for securing the shank and handle together,consisting of a row of teeth on one of them,

a spring-actuated dog pivoted to the other of them and adapted to engagethe teeth aforesaid, and a clamping screw carried by 15 WILLIAM A.BURGER.

Vitnesses I THOMAS H. GiLLASPIE, E. P. GiLLAsrni.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0.

